Bears ride strong outing from starter Choi Seung-yong to second straight ...

Bears ride strong outing from starter Choi Seung-yong to second straight victory

Published: 17 May. 2026, 19:34

Doosan Bears pitcher Choi Seung-yong pitches during a match against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on May 6. [NEWS1]

The Doosan Bears rode a strong outing from starter Choi Seung-yong to their second straight victory on Sunday, while the Lotte Giants unraveled with two costly errors.

The Bears defeated the Giants 8-4 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Sunday. After edging out the Giants 10-9 in an extra-inning match the previous day, the Bears secured a winning series with two victories in three games — their 20th win of the season, with 22 losses and a single tied game.

The Bears’ bullpen pitchers have been overworked recently, making relievers Lee Young-ha and Yang Jae-hun unavailable for Sunday’s match. Along with Choi’s strong pitching, the aggressive offense helped the Bears start their winning streak.

The Giants, on the other hand, suffered their second straight loss as their bats stayed quiet.

Through the first three innings, the two teams remained locked in a scoreless duel.

Lotte starter Elvin Rodriguez overpowered the Bears’ hitters with a fastball that topped out at 154 kilometers (96 miles) per hour, mixing in cutters effectively.

Choi countered with an array of pitches — including a fastball, cutter, slider, changeup and curveball — to keep the Giants off the scoreboard.

The deadlock continued into the sixth inning.

After Han Dong-hui of the Giants hit a solo homer that traveled 133.5 meters (438 feet), Kang Seung-ho of the Bears hit the game-tying solo shot in the fifth inning.

Both starting pitchers escaped the sixth inning without further damage.

Choi exited after allowing one run on seven hits over six innings while striking out four without issuing a walk.

Rodriguez returned to the mound in the bottom of the seventh, but the inning unraveled quickly.

After giving up back-to-back hits to the Bears’ Park Ji-hoon and Kang, Rodriguez tried to pick off the runner at first base. But first baseman Na Seung-yeup failed to catch the throw, allowing the go-ahead run to score.

Lotte Giants infielder Na Seung-yeup hits a ball during a game against the KT Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on May 5. [YONHAP]

The next batter of the Bears, Oh Myeong-jin, hit a routine grounder to third that should have ended the inning, but Han made a wild throw that led to another run.

The Giants’ relievers Jeong Cheol-won and Choi E-jun also struggled after coming on, and the deficit ballooned. The Bears put the game away when Kim Min-suk blasted a three-run homer for the team’s eighth run.

“Physically, I wasn’t at my 100 percent best today,” Choi Seung-yong said. “Rather than trying to throw as hard as I could, I focused more on my command, and I think that led to a good result. It reminded me once again that accuracy is more important than velocity.”

“If I can keep locating my pitches as accurately as I did today, the fielders behind me and veteran catcher Yang Eui-ji will make the plays,” he said.

Although he was denied the win after leaving the game before the Bears took the lead, Choi Seung-yong said he was not disappointed.

“I’m not disappointed at all about missing out on the win,” he said. “As a starting pitcher, it’s rewarding enough when the team wins on the day that I pitch. Starting after four days of rest wasn’t a burden at all. A lot of fans packed the stadium over the weekend, and their support led to my pitching well. I’m always grateful.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KIM HYO-KYOUNG [

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